I've decided to try and keep a journal, here and on other dog forums, about Riddle's recovery after her TTA. I'll try and update daily with progress, pictures, routines, etc. After the initial few weeks, updates will probably be more spaced out as she gets more stable and things aren't changing daily. I'm hoping that, if I can keep up with it, the journal can be a help to other dog owners going through the same issues.

For those not in the know, today (6/19/12) Riddle is having a Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA) surgery performed to correct a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in her left knee. Riddle had the TTA procedure performed on her right knee about 3 years ago, and so far that one has held up perfectly.

The second link is actually from the website of the clinic doing the procedure. She will also get physical therapy at the same place!

She's out of surgery now, and did fantastic. She had also torn the meniscus in the same knee, so that was repaired as well. They know her well there, so she's been getting spoiled, sleeping in people's laps, etc. She does not get to come home until tomorrow morning, so I'll be keeping you all updated tomorrow!

Riddle is home! Very tired. She pooped, peed, and then collapsed into sleep. So far her leg isn't too swollen or bruised, but we'll see how the day progresses. I'll post some epics of her and her inscision later when she wakes up. She does have some diarrhea, so she'll be getting rice and yogurt for dinner.

She came home with Clavamox, Tramadol, and Metacam. Clavamox is an antibiotic that she gets twice a day with food. Metacam is an anti-inflammatory she gets in the morning, and Tramadol for pain every eight hours. We are also icing her leg every four hours to prevent swelling. If lots of bruising presents, we'll do hot compresses too.

She's been very good about snuggling on the couch next to me all day. Couch camping isn't my favourite thing ever, but it's the best way to keep an eye on her, so that's our routine for the next few days.

WARNING: GRAPHIC INCISION PICS BELOW

Just figured I'd post that for the faint of heart.

Mega sad post-surgery face:

The "I do not like ice packs" face:

Leg and incision at 12 pm:

At 4 pm:

At 8 pm:

She's bruised up quite a bit, but not as much as the last time around! There was a tiny bit of fluid leaking at the 8 pm check, but such a small amount I'm not worried right now. We'll be doing a midnight ice pack, Tramadol dose, and check as well. I don't need sleep, right?

You can see that the leg swelled up pretty good around the hock. We did check in with the vet, and he says not to worry about it, but to start twice daily hot compresses just on the hock area. We're also massaging from her toes up to help encourage blood flow.

I thought I took 4 pm pics, but apparently I was delirious and didn't, . I was napping and Riddle's daddy did the 8 pm check and ice pack, so we don't have those either. Sorry!

We didn't get much of an outing today. I set up the stroller and we went out, but halfway to the park it starting POURING. We had to turn back, since I didn't want Riddle's staples getting wet. The plastic cover zipped up kept her dry, but she can't see much or sniff anything with it closed, so it was a bust. It rained the rest of the day too! We'll try again tomorrow, after I get off work. I'm nervous going back! Her daddy will be with her this weekend, but I really want another ME there, haha.

I started trying to put notes with the time for her incision pics, since yesterday I got SUPER confused as to which was which! So that's why those are there now. :P

8 am

12 pm

4 pm

8 pm

We had some fluid leakage earlier in the day, but the hot compresses seemed to clear it up. They've also helped the bruising and swelling go down quite a bit. We decided to do the hot compresses every 4 hours, just like the ice, so we do 5 minutes ice, 5 minutes hot, 5 minutes ice. That's what the PT said to do when we were doing both.

We finally took the stroller out! It was really warm and sunny after work, so even though I was exhausted, we went for a walk/ride. There's a park about 5 minutes away from us, so it's easy to get to and nice for her to sniff around in from the stroller.

Just a stroller pic today, since her leg looks pretty much identical to yesterday.

We did have a bit of a scare though. When I went to do her 8 pm ice pack and hot compress, and I realized that her hock was icy cold. Her thigh and foot were warm, but the hock itself wasn't. So we went to the emergency vet, who checked her out for us. Temp was normal, the area had a good pulse, and she wasn't in any pain, so he thinks she's just fine. He said that sometimes narcotics like Tramadol can slow circulation, especially coupled with the fact that she's not moving around. So we're cutting the Tramadol back to every 12 hours instead of every 8, and stopping the ice packs.

Well, last night/this morning was a bid of a nightmare. We ended up back at the emergency vet a little after midnight. The leg had warmed up fine and was doing just peachy, but around 11 pm she had some diarrhea, with a couple drops of blood. I didn't think too much of it, but at 12 am she had more diarrhea, with much more blood. So we took her back in, and by 1 am she was having liquid diarrhea and pooping pure blood outside the vet's office.

They're not really sure what happened. It could have been the medication, it could have been stress, it could be completely unrelated. She has been on Tramadol, Metacam, and Clavamox before with no issues, but we just don't know. So we are stopping the Metacam for now.

She was given a shot of Famotidine, which helps coat the stomach. She's also on Omeprazole once a day and Endosorb three times a day to help stop the diarrhea. She also got 500 cc of subcutaneous fluids last night, since she was already getting dehydrated.

So far she hasn't pooped at all today, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. She's been eating and acting totally fine. Hopefully this was just a fluke.

Scary, a friends dog just hit the e vet for the same reason, bloody poo, she is on a lot of meds right now too and they weren't sure if that's what caused it. Glad to hear she seems to be feeling better though.